By Alexa Binkowitz
Co-News Editor
Five Communication and Media Arts students were nominated to win the Flora A. Giarniero Memorial Scholarship. It was to be awarded to either junior or senior student with a concentration in journalism.
Based on academic achievement, GPA and at least a five-page essay, the award recognized writing skill and dedication to an education in communication and media arts.
Gabriella Nutile, a senior Communications major, and the Features Editor for The Spectrum, was the one student chosen out of the five to be awarded this scholarship.
“Once we submitted our essay, three of us were to be chosen as finalists and I was one of them. I then got feedback from Professor Sara Ross and Dr. Lori Bindig on what I could fix to make it even better and hopefully win the scholarship,” said Nutile. “I took their criticisms into consideration and fixed what I thought would be necessary to help enhance my essay. After that, I got an email from Professor Ross with the subject title as ‘Good News’ and found out I had won.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 29 Professor James Castonguay, Professor Sara Ross and Mr. Giarniero presented the award to Nutile.
Students in Professor Joanne Kabak’s News Writing and Reporting class, as well as most of The Spectrum’s staff, were in attendance.
“The evaluation committee said they would consider ‘the quality of the writing, as well as the insight of the writer’ for this scholarship,” said Nutile. “I chose to submit a paper that I wrote for one of my communications classes that I was taking while abroad in Rome.”
The award of $1,000 will go towards Nutile’s tuition.
“This award definitely holds some significance to me because it reinforces me that all of my hard work is paying off. When I was younger, I was actually not the best writer and struggled a lot with it, but since high school and now at college, I have worked really hard at making sure my writing grows with each and every year,” said Nutile.
For the School of Communication and Media Arts, this scholarship will help recognize students who are interested in the journalism field, and will inspire other students to remain dedicated to their passions for writing and reporting.
“I’m honored and humbled to have been given the scholarship this year and I thank those who saw me as one of the best applicants and students to receive this award,” said Nutile.
